Notching: Melee vs. Casting

[Drache]

I can't help but wonder if it could be made to be not so TEDIOUS to notch melee skills (rogue/bard/warrior..dodge even)

I have found it very strange that casting stuff notches really quickly but bash shieldpunch kick dodge and all that good stuff, sneak hide etc. just do not notch easily. It's very frustrating and not any fun. The mud is fun. The time spent watching this seemingly minimal melee notching surely isn't. Anybody else having this type finding?

[kiryan]

fun is waiting 24 minutes betwen assasinate attempts. at 1000+ to get your last notch in any skill, your talking about a lot of time. however it holds no candle to notching summon totem (avg 1 per 56 minute).

[Ambar]

why would skill notching be anything BUT tedious?

kind of like hating school but having to go thru all the years to get that degree or diploma and wanting it in 5 minutes!

patience, grasshopper! (rofl hate skills rpactice:P)

[Drache]

To be honest, it's one of the things KILLING this mud..and a lot of others. New games don't require mindless drone action such as 'skills practice.' What was tolerated back in the early 90's, isn't now. In the time it takes to notch shieldpunch or rescue once when it's high, you could have gained several levels on a PC game.

Saying 'go play x game' isn't the answer..when ppl do say that enough, the -who- list will get shorter yet!

But ironically regarding your hating school yet wanting it done in 5 min remark, I argue then (in high school) what I argue now. Why sit there in class because the state says you need to spend "X" amount of time in the classroom to learn and take only 12 minutes or 45 minutes..whatever of homework at the end of the day? Same principle. Why are we forced to spam something that has nothing to do with learning. Enter, click, enter click. I'm learning? :(

[Disoputlip]

You really don't need 99 in skills where you don't automatically get 99. E.g. a warrior gets 99 in rescue if they tank DS, but not in 1handed misc.

Having maxxed skills here is more about the l33tness fact0r than anything else.

[Ambar]

graphicals DO have skills you have to practice ... ever try to noch herb gathering, skinning, tailoring? it DOES take time and in some cases, cash ...

in those games you may have to FIND the items you need to practice with, and/or the mob you need to upgrade your skill level.

just wanted to clear up that ALL games have their timesinks thats detestable about it .. i HATE the walking here and there of graphicals .. why the hell does it take 45 rl minutes to get from one continent to another (sure at a certain level you get a mount, but DAMN)

i'd say dont ever take up martial arts or something that requires YEARS to be good at ...

[Arilin Nydelahar]

To be honest, it's one of the things KILLING this mud..and a lot of others. New games don't require mindless drone action such as 'skills practice.' What was tolerated back in the early 90's, isn't now. In the time it takes to notch shieldpunch or rescue once when it's high, you could have gained several levels on a PC game.

Saying 'go play x game' isn't the answer..when ppl do say that enough, the -who- list will get shorter yet!

But ironically regarding your hating school yet wanting it done in 5 min remark, I argue then (in high school) what I argue now. Why sit there in class because the state says you need to spend "X" amount of time in the classroom to learn and take only 12 minutes or 45 minutes..whatever of homework at the end of the day? Same principle. Why are we forced to spam something that has nothing to do with learning. Enter, click, enter click. I'm learning? :(

I'm sorry, but skill notching is not "Killing the mud" as you put it.

It's not hard to notch skills. Have you actually played the game, as opposed to pleveling? I played a warrior 1-46, got him to 46 pretty fast within a few days ptime, and he had max skills through use from around 35+ on. If you use the skills they get notched, I fail to see how big of a problem it is. The only skills that may be a problem would be assassinate, summon totem, and one or two others. But i'm sorry, those won't make or break a group.

[Vigis]

Well, I was practicing skills last night for over 3 hours. (Dual wield, kick, hitall). Dual wield is currently at 37, kick at 97, hitall 96 (I think).

Guess what I notched.....

Yup, fugging MOUNT! On my way back to town I decided to hop a horse and notched mount on the first attempt :p

[Latreg]

I think if you max out the attribute that the skill is linked to it helps to notch it faster. so get as high a dex or agi as you can with gear and practice the skills listed for those etc.

[Drache]

Well, I was practicing skills last night for over 3 hours. (Dual wield, kick, hitall). Dual wield is currently at 37, kick at 97, hitall 96 (I think).

Guess what I notched.....

Yup, fugging MOUNT! On my way back to town I decided to hop a horse and notched mount on the first attempt :p

I'm sorry, but skill notching is not "Killing the mud" as you put it.

(Arlin was referring to me to make it clear to others :) )

This is what I mean though. I was only practicing level 34 stuff and rescue bash all the good stuff fails a lot and won't notch. All my attributes are in the highest rung too. Very frustrating. That's why I said it's killing the mud because nobody wants you to group with sucky skills. I've gained a level -from 0% to 100% while trying to notch bash. Guess what? I gained level 32 without ever notching that bash once. And I've not had anybody helping me level. It's not all that good to assume someone's pleveled cuz this isn't the case. The speed an way in which notches work is very disappointing

[Gormal]

I still can't get a damned glass helmet, and I'll never forgive my little brother for erasing my game that had adamant armor... fucking pink tail.

[kiryan]

id have to agree that skill notching is not killing the game.

and id have to disagree that other games don't have as much skill practice. tradeskills are notoriously difficult on every mmorpg ive played. Regular skills probably do notch faster on other games than here, but i also have played games where you can only notch skills on mobs that are bigger than (your level - 5).

Be thankful that a level 50 player can practice bash on a level 1 mob.

[Vipplin]

I think intelligence influences how quickly chars learn/notch in all skills. The primary stat for that skill determines how well you do the skill or whether you do it, not whether you improve it (if you are doing it more due to high pri stat, of course you'll notch more, too, but higher int will give you more notches per use methinks). That would explain why caster skills notch faster, at least for those with good int... try rolling a warrior with good int :)

I think a normal player (not p-leveled or starting with level 50 eq) will notch their skills at an acceptable rate. I've played 4 warrior classes and 5 mage classes and never had trouble with my skills. All that matters is whether your character is effective at fighting mobs of approx your level. I've never had to do any extra skills practice for that.

It might be different for some skills mentioned earlier, but if you can only prac once every 24 mins or 54 mins then I'd just prac it at the guild as much as I could and I'll bet that's close enough to your max to be good enough?

It seems to me that skills tend to notch faster the farther you are from your current max in that skill. The best cure for a low skill is to level, then it will notch easier (i.e. time is better spent on XP at least until level 46 IMHO). If you're already level 50 then your skills are probably pretty damn good and the last last few notches are mostly just for bragging anyway...

[Llaaldara]

New games don't require mindless drone action such as 'skills practice.' What was tolerated back in the early 90's, isn't now. In the time it takes to notch shieldpunch or rescue once when it's high, you could have gained several levels on a PC game.

WoW does this, and I thought that was one of the 'new' games out. Not just for melee skills and spell casting, but it also does it for all your 2ndary skills as well. Each time you level, your cap increases - much like here, so you spend time doing what is necessary to increase those skills back up to their caps so you are more effective at them.

The difference I've noticed is, on WoW, to increase your secondary skills, it usualy involves money and yet more time and money as the skill increases so that you can acquire the abilities to even notch your skills. Here, you can do the same thing over and over and completely notch those skills eventually, costing little to no money at all, but a lot of time in some cases.

In summary, it is just time here, it is more time and more money there for 2ndary skills, altho melee appears to notch a lot faster there.

[Sarell]

I found on my warriors, rogues and ranger most of the useful skills could be maxed just through using them in zones. Some skills like disarm trap won't get very high without a lot of dedicated practice, but they are high enough to get the job done. I know of a rogue that has been around for only a few months that is fairly close to maxing most of the skills.

I think there should be something that divides epic characters like Pava from testing out joke characters like Sarli. Skills do this to some degree, maybe not even enough since Sarli can still get the job done just fine without anyone noticing her skills are pretty ordinary and never practiced out of zones, but then maybe enough, because skill prac outside of zones is boring.

In response to the first post, I wouldn't bother mucking around trying to notch skills that already seem to work okay, or don't get used very much. If they don't get used so much, I wouldn't increase the notch rate, just use them more for that 'special' warrior. I'm sure Gormal's hitall is decent without practicing it outside of zones.